The Clingy One
by robert3A-SN
Summary: Britta discovers that Annie isn't the clingy one in her new relationship with Jeff, once Annie visits her all by herself one day. Jeff/Annie, Annie/Britta friendship, Britta POV.


Britta wasn't used to having Annie over on a Saturday. Or most any day, really. Yet she insisted on spending the afternoon at Britta's – and to Annie's credit, she was getting better at petting her cats. She didn't even stare at Daniel's eye patch as much as usual.

But Britta noticed Annie saving her nastiest looks for her cell phone. When it went off, she either rolled her eyes or groaned before texting back. Finally on the fifth text alert, she groaned even louder and threw her phone on Britta's couch.

"Hey, Daniel pees on there sometimes!" Britta warned. "At least when he can't find the litter box! Anti blind, much?" she said on instinct.

"I'm anti Jeff much right about now!" Annie let out.

Britta wished she was surprised, but she was only shocked it took this long before Annie bitched about Jeff. They'd been dating for a month, and Britta honestly thought Jeff would unleash crazy Annie by day 10. Maybe the cell phone would tell her if Annie's breaking point was his selfishness, his ego, his laziness, or the whole douchebag package.

Yet when Britta snatched the phone before Annie remembered to pick it up, all she read was "Wish you were here."

She'd heard of those words before – even in that exact order. But those words being used by Jeff in that order? It looked like gibberish to her. Or another language she was hard wired as a white American to be ignorant about. Yet maybe America wasn't to blame this time.

"Do these words from Jeff make any sense to you?" Britta finally asked Annie.

"I wish they didn't!" Annie hardly helped. "I thought he'd let up if I came here, but no! He couldn't even give me that!"

"Annie, if you're badmouthing Jeff, I am more than ready to join in. I can join in ways that would shatter your very soul. Or it would if it existed, so you're pretty lucky!" Britta got sidetracked before recovering. "But it'd help to know what we're badmouthing him for. How bad of a boyfriend has he been?"

"He's been great!" Annie confused Britta further. "He's treated me like a princess, he's thought about my feelings, he's always willing to spend time with me, and we do everything together!"

"Okay...as an unlicensed sarcasm translator, I know exactly what you mean," Britta winked.

"No you don't, I'm being serious! Jeff's been amazing to me!" Annie repeated. "We spend every day together and he fawns all over me!"

"Then what's with throwing the cell phones?" Britta got to the point.

"Because he's driving me nuts! He won't leave me alone!" Annie finally revealed. "We spend _every day _together, Britta! Even when I visit friends, he keeps texting me! I've barely even had any roommate time with Troy and Abed lately!"

"Oh, well, I'm sure they've been fine playing the women in their movies again," Britta tried to chime in.

"Barely! Troy's all wrong as Geneva, you have no idea! Maybe you do, but that's not the point!" Annie rebounded. "The point is I've had no space since we started dating! He's so, so…_clingy!_"

Britta finally realized Annie wasn't being sarcastic. Not after hearing that and seeing all the schmoopy stuff from Jeff in the last month. Maybe it wasn't to pacify Annie or screw with the group after all. Mr. "nut up and die alone," Mr. anti-commitment and Mr. edible was….a whipped, clingy boyfriend.

And when it sunk in, Britta couldn't stop laughing.

"Oh God, I screwed up. I thought if I was around you, I wouldn't talk about Jeff," Britta heard Annie in between the laughing. "But I rubbed in how he's done more for me than he ever did for you! Now you're laughing to hide how hurt you are!"

And when that sunk in, Britta rolled on the couch laughing. She barely cared that she rolled over Daniel's pee spot – that's how hysterical it was. "Stop it, I'm trying to breathe here!" Britta barely managed to say.

"Oh, wait! It's so funny to you because you're not jealous! Because you're in love with Troy and that's why you don't care!" Annie predicted.

"I said I'm trying to breathe here, you're not helping!" Britta called as she kept laughing. However, her laughter wasn't as strong as before.

"Okay, okay…..it's because you're so happy Jeff's my problem now!" Annie guessed one more time.

"Annie, now I can stop you right there," Britta finally said when she could breathe. "I'm not laughing for whatever sexist, cliché reason you're dreamed of. Sometimes something's funny because it's the funniest thing I've ever heard!" she laughed again when she thought about it.

"I'm glad _you _find it funny!" Annie huffed.

"No you're not, because Jeff's a girly girl boyfriend and you can't stand it! _Jeff!_ _You _can't stand it!" Britta recounted before another burst of laughter. She hoped Annie didn't think it was mean-spirited laughter at all, because it wasn't. Then she thought more about _Jeff_ being a sappy boyfriend and laughed too hard to think again.

"I get the role reversal, Britta! If that's all you have for me, I can go hide out at Shirley's!" Annie huffed.

"All right, all right, I'm done," Britta admitted, but still chuckled one last time. When that passed, she got serious again.

"As a licensed second year psych major, it's clear what's happening. Jeff's new at real relationships, so he's turning schmoopy because he thinks it's what you want from him. He's too scared of screwing up by being himself, especially after everything it took to get a second chance from you. Without you telling him otherwise, he thinks this tactic is working and he'll keep doing it, even if it kills him." Britta finished her esteemed conclusion.

"Britta, do you really think I don't know that?" Annie nitpicked. "I've barely had time to myself lately, but I've been able to figure out that much!"

"So why don't you tell him, then? Why hide out here instead of calling him out on his…..clingy boyfriendness?" Britta asked, somehow stopping herself from laughing again.

"Well, then it's real. Then we'll have our first fight as a couple. Then this little bubble we've been in will get popped. Then I might get insensitive, oblivious, jackass Jeff again. Who's to say that would be any better?" Annie expressed. "Maybe it's better to just wait it out, vent every once in a while and hope it goes away on its own."

"Like Jeff thought his feelings for you would go away on their own? And with a pinch of serious denial to boot?" Britta pointed out.

This made Annie freeze in her tracks as her fragile, last minute denial shattered. "Damn it, you pick the worst times to make sense!" Annie groaned.

Before she went on, her phone beeped again and Britta saw that Jeff had texted "Do you wish I was there?"

Thankfully, Annie growled again before Britta pictured Jeff doing…..things with Annie in this apartment. "Okay! I'm going to take a walk for a minute. Or five," Annie informed Britta. She stormed to the door and walked out, but Britta noticed she hadn't tucked away her phone.

After sitting around for a minute, Britta decided to do her best impression of the government – i.e., spy on someone's private phone calls. Assuming Annie was too mad to go outside and chew Jeff out on the phone.

Yet luckily for her illegal snooping, she opened the door a bit and saw Annie at the end of the hall, holding her phone to her ear.

"Hello, Jeff?" Annie started. Britta closed the door almost all the way, but she could still hear Annie clearly. She only heard her go "Yeah," "Uh huh," and even "That's nice," which made her bored and a bit creeped out. However, it finally got good when Annie used her formidable voice.

"Jeff, please stop!" Britta heard Annie order. "I'm not coming over tonight! In fact, I don't want you seeing me tonight at all! I know how silly this'll sound to you, but I have to say it! You're being too clingy and I need some space right now, okay?"

Britta peeked out again – and luckily for her, Jeff was too infuriating for Annie to notice her. Instead she said, "You _really _don't think I know how ironic this is, Jeff? But you'd hate if I did that to you, so maybe you could lay off doing it to me?" After another pause, Annie frowned deeper and stated, "No, that is _not _what I wanted, Jeff! You can't assume that because of how I was a few years ago! I'm not that bad anymore, in case you bothered to notice!"

Well, it looked like this was going nowhere fast. Britta figured she'd better get ready for a night of drunken Jeff bashing – her kind of party.

Still, Annie didn't look to be at her breaking point yet, saying, "I don't know, why don't you spend the night with your _other_ friends? Troy and Abed have a movie night, go spend it with them! Even if I'm not there! I want to be with Britta today because I miss hanging out with her!"

Britta was thrown off a bit, since the last time someone said they missed hanging out with her was…..well, sometime ago. It did happen once, that much she was sure of! She was….

Annie continued, "Jeff, I still want to be with you! I just don't want to want to be around you that much!" And then, "It means if you keep being clingy with me, I'm afraid I'll get clingy with you all over again! Is that clear enough?!"

Britta finally saw a touch of the old Annie tears in her eyes – but not as strong as she imagined. She was composed enough to keep going with, "Jeff, you _have _been good to me this month. You've been amazing. But you're kind of _too _amazing right now!" She then rolled her eyes and answered, "Yes, even the great Jeff Wingercan be too amazing. You can brag all you want later, okay? Yes, I know you will."

It amazed but hardly surprised Britta that Jeff could be on an ego trip even now. Yet Annie looked undeterred and unimpressed, unlike the old days, and kept focused anyway.

"Jeff, I can't get too dependent on you, or you being amazing. If you keep acting like this all the time, I'll expect too much and jump down your throat when you slip up!" She then shook her head – but almost chuckled – and resumed, "You would, wouldn't you?"

Yet after looking amused, Annie resumed with, "I'm serious, Jeff. I know from….experience how expecting too much from you can hurt. No matter how much better you are now, I know you'll mess up once in a while, but you can't be afraid of doing that! And you can't spend all your time with me to prove you're not that guy anymore! I can't handle that!"

After another few seconds, Annie continued, "Because if I do, I might get obsessed and Jeff-crazy like before! Then I'll wind up making _both _of us ashamed of me! I can't be that embarrassing anymore! And I don't want to forget about everyone else I lo - care for!"

Britta knew Annie would have said "love" if she hadn't stopped herself, and she was sure Jeff knew it too. But that seemed to prove Annie's point better than anything. And if she didn't want to embarrass woman kind by worshipping Jeff anymore, then all power to her.

Yet even after years of waiting for Jeff, Annie didn't want to forget the others now that she had him. She didn't want to forget about Britta, either. In fact, she was standing up to Jeff just so she could spend time with Britta today. Someone was actually doing that much just to be around Britta…..that was new.

"Jeff, I know you're trying. But you don't have to be some sappy version of yourself to be a good boyfriend. That's not who I lo...want to be with," Annie resumed. "I know you don't believe it, but the Jeff you are now, or were until a month ago, _is _who I want as my boyfriend. Just be that guy without _that _many jerky moments, and I'll be happy."

Annie paused as Jeff was probably giving a Winger speech right about now. Yet Britta didn't see Annie looking as swept away by a Winger speech as usual. Soon she actually chuckled, "Yes, I'm sure your shrink would get a laugh out of that. He might be used to it by now."

Britta's attention span wavered for a while, since they were doing their usual banter now. Yet she was struck by how Annie still wasn't googly eyed. She was laughing and oblivious to the world, but it wasn't like a child or even a young adult. And although she looked very much in love, it wasn't the childish, puppy love look Britta was used to.

They had argued, yet Annie hadn't backed down and made Jeff see how he screwed up. Unlike all the other Jeff/Annie arguments, they were working through this one right away – and succeeding.

Britta had never seen all this before – and technically, she had never seen that in any relationship before. Not in her parents, not in the other marriages in her family, not in her friends' past relationships, and certainly not in her own. This was something different. This was…..

Oh fake God. This was it. The real thing.

"Jeff, I don't know _exactly _how long you should back off," Annie continued as Britta paid attention again. "Just give me this weekend, okay? Then we'll see what next week's study group adventure has, and we'll go from there. I'm trying to play it by ear and take this slow, and all that terrifies me! But I think we can manage."

Annie listened to Jeff's answer, then responded, "I know, Jeff. If I don't want you to change, I shouldn't change either, I know. But I'm not changing, I'm just containing the worst parts of myself. And I know you're doing that too. Just don't go so over the top, and I think we can make it work from there, okay?"

Yes, they could – Britta could see it all from here. When they got married and Britta gave her wedding toast, this was the story she'd tell about when they fell in love. Assuming humanity hadn't finally abolished marriage by then. But hoping for that had taken its toll already.

It was sad that Annie would be just another marriage drone, like she was brainwashed to be all her life. And for her to settle for Jeff….

And yet when she imagined it now, she didn't laugh like before – and not because it would give her spying away. Picturing Annie married with Jeff, with their Hallmark approved happily ever after…..it didn't _just _feel like more proof that civilization was dead. It made her feel other things too. Not mad or jealous things. Just things.

"All right, Jeff, I think you can make it from here. I'll clear out before you get to Troy and Abed's, and I'll see you Monday," Annie assured. She listened further and added, "Thank you, Jeff. Yes, I know. Jeff," she finished in a stern but light tone. Finally she cracked a smile and stated, "I will. Okay, I'll make sure Abed has that ready. Goodbye."

Somehow, Britta remembered to close the door extra quietly, then grab Daniel and pet him on the couch before Annie came back inside. "Ah, see that Daniel, your Aunt Annie's back! I petted you for seven whole minutes while she was gone, but you don't need that anymore, do you?" Britta smiled at covering that up pretty well.

"Well, I can say goodbye to him, at least," Annie revealed, which wiped Britta's smile off. "I haven't seen Troy and Abed on a weekend shoot in a while. I'd like to do that before dinner. Then maybe I can clear out before movie night starts and go out for drinks. Maybe you can help me find some good ones?"

"Are you asking me out? Uh, for drinks?" Britta quickly recovered. "I mean, um, you sure you don't want to stay in for movie night?" She cursed herself, knowing Annie couldn't stay in with Jeff there – but Annie couldn't know she knew that. Besides, this was probably just a case of Britta sabotaging herself like usual.

"Britta, I'm sure I don't. I want to be around my other friends again for a while, and that includes you," Annie reassured. "I was afraid that'd be a problem for you once me and Jeff….you know. But I don't want it to be. _That's _why I wanted to come here today, not just to get some space from him."

To drive it home, Annie stressed, "It'd be _really _easy to just focus on one person I care about. But there's only six people I've really cared about, and I don't want to forget about five of them. Especially not you."

Britta never _needed _people to tell her they wanted her around. That's why it didn't hurt when no one ever said that to her. Yet she sometimes forgot Annie never heard it either before she came to Greendale, so it hurt her more.

Maybe that's why she didn't want to set her friends aside for Jeff. Or forget Britta for something better, like everyone else would by now. Like Jeff technically did. Somehow, the first half of that canceled out Britta's possible bitterness on the last half. It did more than that, really.

But Britta, unlike Jeff, still had some dignity left. So she merely told Annie, "Give me every detail of schmoopy, whipped Jeff and you've got a deal."

"Half of them," Annie ultimately answered.

"70 percent. And you've got to tell me if he uses pet names," Britta counter proposed.

"60 percent and I tell you five pet names _I've _used! And two that were too much for even him!" Annie shot back.

"Four pet names and _four _he turned down!" Britta responded.

Annie frowned, then declared, "Deal!" figuring Britta would get too drunk to remember them anyway. With that, she patted Daniel once more and told him, "Well, your mommy drives a hard bargain. Enjoy her while she's sober, because I probably won't tonight!"

Annie cringed at her joke and how she all but gave away the 'get Britta drunk to forget pet names' plan. But Britta smiled and didn't seem to mind, or get any inspiration. So Annie merely said, "All right, I'll be back in a few hours. Don't worry, I'll warn Troy in case you drunk dial him tonight, okay?" she oddly winked and left before Britta gave her okay.

Britta was instinctively offended that Annie thought she'd waste her drunk buzz on a man. However, when she was anti-feminist enough to do that before, she didn't usually have female friends with her. Or any friends most of the time.

The fact that Annie truly wanted to be that friend, even while she was in love with a guy – regardless of it being Jeff – it wasn't something Britta was used to. But maybe it was something she could learn to live with.

That didn't mean she wasn't drunk dialing Jeff with the pet names Annie gave her tonight. Not by a long shot. Assuming she could work out how drunk Britta would remember those names before Annie came back.


End file.
